The wonderful world of book collecting
I have been collecting old and sometimes rare Hebrew books ever since I was a young teen.
The book that travelled halfway around the world.
Several years ago i decided to do a search on the internet for more information on an obscure Rabbi named Yonah Mordechai Zlotnik of Zakracyn, Poland. I had several of his books in my possesion and was curious to learn more about the man. I found mention of him on a family website maintained by his grand-niece and I wrote to her.
She turned out to a typical Ashkenazy middle-aged Israeli woman,living in yuppy Neve Sharett. When I went to Israel later that year, I gave her the book which she was very thankful for.
I have since gotten "acquainted" with the previous owners of some of my other books. It's been an exciting journey so far and I've learned alot.
One of the the books in my collection belonged to a Rabbi Yehoshua Halevi Hershorn of Montreal, Canada.
I did a search on him and found a link to his work of reponsa here
Ah.. the wonders of book collecting and the internet...
posted by Joels W. @ 12:34 AM
3 comments
3 Comments:
Sounds like fun. For someone who doesnt know much about this, how would i get started?
I picked up a book on Isaiah from Ebay, which had belonged to a friend of my great-uncle. I wonder if I should pass it back to his daughter, who is, IIRC, alive in Princeton, unless of course she sold it at some point in the past.
As a general RULE, I never give away books in my collection. I do make an exception if the book has alot of sentimental value to a person and not so much to me. I think its a nice gesture to give it to a person, whom you know it will bring joy to, that for me is payment enough.
Re: book collecting in general, well I was fortunate enough to find these obscure book dealers when i lived in the Brooklyn area, I dont know where they are now. Looking on e-bay may or may not be a good idea. I wouldn't be the right guy to ask. Much success!
Post a Comment
<< Home